Structure with protective covering against ambient influences

ABSTRACT

A valve housing, connected pipe flanges or similar structure is surrounded by a one-piece sheath of elastically distendable material resistance to the ambient influences against which the structure is to be protected. The hollow interior of the sheath has an interior contour which corresponds to the outer contour of the structure and the sheath tightly encases the structure in surface-to-surface relationship.

United States Patent 1 [111 3,738,383 David June 12, 1973 STRUCTURE WITHPROTECTIVE 937,570 /1909 Davis et a1. 137/378 COVERING G IN AMBIENT2,735,699 2/1956 Chadboume 285/260 X 3,140,495 7/1964 Gottwik 285/260 XINFLUENCES 3,396,940 8/1968 Jones 251/335 R [75] lnventor: WalfriedDavid, Maxdorf, Germany 3, 11/1968 r 137/381 3,425,724 2/1969 Resener287/130 [73] Assignee: Bopp & Reuther GmbH, Mannheim,

Germany Prima Examiner1-1enr T. Klinksiek 22 Fld. N .111971 y I 1 WAttorney-Michael s. Striker [21] Appl. No.: 197,807

[] Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT Nov. 19, 1970 GermanyP 20 56 860.9

A valve housing, connected pipe flanges or similar Cl 287/ structure issurrounded by a one-piece sheath of elasti- [5 Cl. ally distendablematerial resistance to the ambient in- Field of Search fluences againstthe tructure is to be protected 285/45, 205/46 /52 52 The hollowinterior of the sheath has an interior con- 137/378, 251/335 tour whichcorresponds to the outer contour of the structure and the sheath tightlyencases the structure in References Cited surface-to-surfacerelationship.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,163,450 12/1964 Eirhart 285/260 X 9 Claims, 3Drawing Figures 0, i /2 I0 I] I] l6 /4 F 7 1 7 I7 f 1p 'Li 6 Pmmm JUN 12 ms SHEET 1 (IF 3 STRUCTURE WITH PROTECTIVE COVERING AGAINST AMBIENTINFLUENCES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relatesgenerally to the protection of structures against ambient influences,and more particularly to the protection of valve housings, pipe unions,connected pipe flanges or the like against such ambient influences.

If pipes are to be laid on ground or below ground, and are provided withvalves, it is already known to coat the valve components-particularlythe housingwith a coating of protective lacquer or the like in order toprevent the corrosion of such components. However, it is well known thatsuch a protective coating can and frequently is removed in part duringinstallation, as a result of impacts which cause it to flake or breakoff locally, so that a complete and reliable corrosion protection is notassured. In particular the outermost flange connecting screws or boltsare endangered by corrosion in such constructions, it being evidentlyeconomically impractical to make such components of rust-free steel toavoid this difficulty.

An additional problem in this area occurs if such valves are to belocated on or below ground in the proximity of high-voltage cables,because in such case it is necessary to provide additionally an adequatecathodic protection. Heretofore, it has been attempted to provide thisin that after assembly of the exterior components of the valve in thefactory these components were provided with a layer of hardenablematerial, for instance a bituminous layer of several millimetersthickness. Here, again, however, it was found that during loading andtransporting of thus-protected valves it is almost impossible to avoidthat portions of the protective layer flake off or break off as a resultof impacts or the like so that again neither adequate cathodicprotection nor sufficient corrosion protection is assured. Also, theprotective layer in such instances was usually applied manually, anundertaking which is both timeconsuming and inexpensive, and which doesnot assure uniformity in the thickness of the protective layer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, accordingly, a general object of thepresent invention to provide an improved arrangement of the LII typehere under discussion which is not possessed of these disadvantages ofthe prior art.

More particularly it is an object of the present invention to providesuch an improved arrangement which is afforded the desired protectionagainst ambient influences, particularly a reliable cathodic protectionand a reliable corrosion protection.

In pursuance of these and other objects which will become apparenthereafter, one feature of the invention resides in the provision of anarrangement of the character described which, briefly stated, comprisesa structure which is to be protected against ambient influences andwhich has at least in part a given outer contour, and a discreteone-piece sheath of elastically distendable material resistant to suchambient influences. The sheath has a hollow interior whose inner contourcorresponds to the outer contour and tightly encases the structure insurface-to-surface relationship therewith.

The sheath is not only of one piece but is separate from the structureitself, being produced independently, and is pulled onto the structureor the part thereof which is to be protected, under simultaneousdistending of the material of the sheath. In this manner a reliable andcomplete protection of the structure or part thereof is assured, andmoreover can be provided by applying the protective sheath in situ, thatis at the time and place of use rather than in the factory. This avoidsthe possibility of damage to the sheath during loading and transporting.

' The tight surface-to-surface engagement of the sheath with thestructure or part to be protected is assured in that the dimensions ofthe hollow interior, whose inner contour otherwise corresponds to theouter contour of the structure or part thereof to be protected, aresomewhat smaller than the structure or part thereof so that the materialof the sheath is elastically distended when it is placed onto thestructure and will thus engage the surrounded and encased parts thereofin tight surface-to-surface contact under pre-tension. Such tightengagement is particularly advantageous where the sheath engagesconnecting screws or bolts of flanges or the like.

The sheath according to the present invention can be produced in verysimple manner, by resorting to massproduction techniques, being made ofa suitable synthetic plastic material by dipping, injection-molding orby press-molding. It can be applied in situ without any tools or otheraids and with a minimum loss of time.

If the structure which is to be protected is a valve, in particular ofthe gate-valve type, and has a tubular portion provided at oppositeaxial ends with connecting flanges for connection to pipe sections, anda housing which extends transversely to the axis of the tubular portionand to which a hood-part is connected by means of additional flanges,then it is advantageous according to a further concept of the inventionto provide the sheath at one lateral side with a slot which extendslongitudinally of the tubular portion and another slot which extendsnormal to the first slot in order to facilitate placing of the sheathabout the valve whereupon the slots are closed by welding, vulcanizing,bonding or the like in order to make them fluid-tight.

By locating such slot or slots at one lateral side of the sheath, thelatter can be placed in a very simple and time-saving manner not onlyabout the housing of the valve itself, but also about the tubularportion which, as already indicated above, usually extends at a rightangle to the housing itself. Furthermore, even with this constructionthe utilization of the two aforementioned slots makes it possible stillto employ a one-piece sheath. It is simply necessary to distend thematerial of the sheath at the two slots which cross and intersect oneanother, and to apply the sheath onto the valve and subsequently toclose the slots or slits whereupon the valve is completely encased andprotected.

It is advantageous to provide the sheath with portions-of one piece withthe remainder of the sheath-- which also surround not only theconnecting flanges of the valve itself, but also those flanges of thepipe sections which are respectively connected with these connectingflanges.

With such a construction the entire valve and associated portions of thepipe sections which are connected with it, namely the flanges of thesepipe sections, can be encased and protected against ambient influences(such as corrosion, etc.) in a single operation and in toto,substantially simplifying the application of the protection and omittingthe possibility that portions might remain unconnected where damagecould occur. The pipe sections themselves are usually separatelyprotected for cathodic protecting purposes in conventional well-knownmanner.

In so far as parts of the structure to be protected extend outwardlythrough openings provided for this purpose in the sheath, it is alsoadvantageous to bond annular portions of the sheath which bound suchopenings to corresponding surface portions of the structure, in order toprovide an absolutely tight seal at these openings to prevent theintrusion of moisture or the like.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a partially sectionedside-elevational view of a valve structure provided with a sheathaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view analogous to FIG. 2 but showing a different embodiment;and

FIG. 3 is a somewhat diagrammatic, partially sectioned view illustratingstill another embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Discussing firstly theembodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, it will be seen that reference numeral1 identifies a valve in toto. This valve is of the gate-valve typehaving an elongated tubular portion 2 which is provided at its oppositeaxial ends with connecting flanges 3 and 4. Extending transversely ofthe axial elongation of the tubular portion 2 is a housing portion 5provided with a flange 6 to which there is secured by means of anadditional flange 8 a hood 7. The flanges 6 and 8 are connected with oneanother by means of screws or bolts 9 and at its upper end the hood 2 isfurther provided with a head portion 10 which is secured with the hood 7by means of exteriorly exposed screws or bolts 18.v The head portion 10mounts the journal 11 in which the spindle 12 is turnably received, withseals 13 and 14 being provided to seal the interior of the housing 5, 6and 7. A nut 16 cooperates with the spindle 12 and is mounted in thevalve member or gate which, when the spindle 12 is turned in requisitesense, moves upwardly or downwardly in FIG. 1 in order to either extendacross the cross-section of the tubular portion 2 as illustrated,thereby preventing fluid flow therethrough, or to be partly orcompletely retracted from this crosssection in conventional manner.

In accordance with the present invention there is pro-v vided a discreteone-piece sheath 17 for corrosion protecting purposes, which is aseparate element entirely independently produced in so far as the valve1 is concerned and composed of an elastically distendable syntheticplastic material. In the separate condition of the sheath 17, that iswhen the latter is not applied to the valve, the interior of the sheath17 has a contour corresponding to the exterior contour of the valve 1,or

rather in this embodiment of the portions 5, 6, 8, 7 and 10. When thesheath 17 is applied to the valve 1, it surrounds and encases the samedownwardly to the housing 5 in tight surface-to-surface engagement. Itthus protects the connecting screws or bolts 9 which connect the flanges6 and 8 with one another, as well as the screws or bolts 18 and theportions 10, 7 and parts of the portion 5.

In order to provide adequate and reliable protection, and to assure thatthe sheath 17 has a certain strength and shape-retentive capability, thewall thickness of the sheath 1 should be adequate for such purposes, andmay be on the order of one millimeter or more. No attempt has been madein the drawing to provide a correct proportional showing of thedimensions of the various components. The distending capability of thematerial of the sheath 17 is sufficient so that the lower marginalportion 19 bounding the lower opening in the sheath 17 can besufficiently distended outwardly to be pulled over the flanges 8 and 6.If the dimensions are such that sufficient distending is not possible,then the sheath 17 may be provided at one lateral side with a slitextending in the direction of elongation of the spindle 17, thuspermitting its ready application about the parts of the valve 1 whichare to be protected as shown in FIG. 1. The edges bounding the slit arethen subsequently fluid-tightly connected with one another byheat-welding, bonding, vulcanizing or the like.

In either case, and in order to assure that no moisture can enter eitherat the marginal annular portion 19 or at the marginal annular portion 20of the opposite opening of the sheath 17, the marginal portions 19 and20 are bounded by use of suitable adhesives or the like to thecorresponding surface portions of the housing 5 and of the head portion10, respectively. Advantageously, the aforementioned correspondingsurface portions of the housing 5 and of the head portion 10 may becoated with a suitable adhesive before the sheath 17 is applied.

FIG. 2 shows a further embodiment of the invention in which likereference numerals designate like components as in FIG. 1. In FIG. 2,however, the sheath 17 covers not only the parts of the valve which areshown in FIG. 1, but in fact covers the entire valve and also theflanges of the associated pipe sections. Such a complete coverage andprotection is required where cathodic protection is needed.

In FIG. 2 the sheath 17 has a portion 21 provided with the upper margin20; in addition, it has a portion 22 surrounding the hood of the valve,a portion 23 surrounding the flanges connecting the hood and the housing of the valve, a portion 24 surrounding the valve housing itself, anda portion 25 surrounding the tubular portion of the valve. In additionthe sheath 17 is also provided with portions 26 and 27 each of whichcovers one of the end flanges of the tubular portion of the valve andthe flange of an associated pipe section which is associated with therespective end flange. No attempt has been made in the drawing to showthese flanges other than diagrammatically, because it will be clearlyunderstand how they will be connected, and the portions 26 and 27 alsosurround and encase the connectors-here shown as bolts 30 andcooperating nuts ill-which connect the respective flanges with oneanother as illustrated. Portions 28 and 29 extend beyond the portions 26and 27, respectively, in order to provide a tight engagement with therespectively associated pipe sections. The entire sheath 17 is of onepiece and is intended to be applied only in situ, that is only after thevalve has been connected with the associated pipe sections. ln order tomake this possible the sheath 17 is provided at one lateral side thereofwith a slit 32 which extends in axial direction of the portion 25 andwith an additional slit 33 which extends normal to the slit 32. Theprovision of the slits 32 and 33 permits the material of the sheath 17to be elastically distended and bent apart along these slits so that itcan be placed over the valve and the flanges from one lateral side.Subsequently, the sheath 17 is released and the slits 32 and 33 areclosed, after their edges are firstly tightly abutted, either byheat-welding, by vulcanizing, by bonding via a suitable bonding agent,or the like. In this manner a completely enclosed fluid-tight sheath 17is applied onto the valve and the associated flanges of the pipesections with which the valve is connected. The pretension of the sheath17, required to obtain permanent surface-to-surface engagement with thestructure which it protects, is obtained by drawing the slits 32 and 33together so that the respective edges meet tightly before they areconnected by welding, bonding or the like. Subsequently, marginalportions of the sheath 17 which bound the respective openings thereinare again bonded to corresponding surface portions of the structure bysuitable adhesives, as discussed with respect to FIG. 1.

FIG. 3, finally, shows that the invention is also applicable to protectthe juncture between the connected flanges of two pipe sections. In FIG.3 the sheath is again identified with reference numeral 17 and theflanges of the two connected pipe sections are identified with referencecharacters A and B, respectively. They are connected by bolt connectionsC as illustrated.

The sheath 17 has a portion 34 which embraces and encases the flanges Aand B as well as the bolt connections C. Of one piece with the portion34 are end portions 35 and 36 which cover annular portions of therespective pipe sections adjacent the respective flanges A and B.

The sheath 17 in the embodiment of FIG. 3 is applied by first distendingeither the portion 35 or 36 and placing the sheath onto one of the twopipe sections, whereupon the flanges A and B are abutted and connectedby the bolt connections C. Subsequently the other portion (36 or 35) isdistended and the sheath is moved into place as illustrated, withmarginal portions bounding the openings and the portions 35 and 36 beingbonded to the pipe sections as previously described.

If the material of the sheath 17 cannot be sufficiently distended to beapplied in this manner, then one lateral side of the sheath 17 may beprovided with an axially extending slit 37 which is shown in phantomlines, to permit application of the sheath 17 onto the pipe sectionseven after their flanges A and B have been connected. In this case it isof course necessary subsequently to close the slit 37 fluid-tightly inthe manner previously discussed.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofconstructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in avalve or analogous structure provided with a protective one-piecesheath, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, sincevarious modifications and structural changes may be made withoutdeparting in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of the presentinvention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent isset forth in the appended claims:

1. An arrangement of the character described, comprising a valve whichis to be protected against ambient influences and which has at least inpart a given outer contour; and a discrete one-piece sheath ofelastically distended sheet material resistant to said ambientinfluences, said sheath tightly encasing said valve in surfaceto-surfacecontact therewith and having an inner contour which corresponds to saidouter contour and which in distended state equals the dimensions thereofwhile in relaxed state it is of smaller dimensions than those of saidouter contour.

2. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, wherein said elasticallydistendable material is a synthetic plastic material.

3. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, said structure comprising apair of connected and connected flanges; and wherein said sheath alsoencases said flanges.

4. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, said valve comprising at leasttwo sections, and connecting means connecting said sections and exposedat the exterior of the same; and wherein said sheath encases saidsections and also said connecting means.

5. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, said sheath having a pluralityof openings through which portions of said valve extend to the exteriorof said sheath; and further comprising means tightly connecting marginalportions of said sheath bounding the respective openings with juxtaposedsurface portions of said valve.

6. An arrangement of the character described, comprising a valve whichis to be protected against ambient influences, said valve having atubular portion provided at opposite axial ends with end flanges, and ahousing portion extending from said tubular portion transversely to theaxis thereof; a discrete one-piece sheath of elastically distendablematerial resistant to said ambient influences and tightly encasing saidvalve in surface-to-surface contact, said sheath being provided in alateral side with a first slit extending axially along said tubularportion for admission of the same and with a second slit normal to saidfirst slit and extending along said housing portion for admission of thelatter; and means closing said slits when said sheath encases saidvalve.

7. An arrangement as defined in claim 6, further comprising a pair ofpipe sections each having a connecting flange connected with one of saidend flanges; and wherein said sheath comprises a pair of sections eachof which encases one of said end flanges and the respective connectingflange which is connected thereto.

8. A method of protecting a valve against ambient influences, comprisingthe steps of providing a valve having a tubular portion having oppositeaxial ends and a housing portion extending from said tubular portiontransversely to the axis thereof; providing a one-piece sheath ofelastically distendable material resistant to said influences and havinga hollow interior whose inner contour corresponds to the outer contourof said valve; forming said sheath in one lateral side thereof with oneslit extending in axial direction of said tubular portion and an otherslit extending normal to said one slit; widening said slits bydistending the material of said sheath, and thereupon placing saidsheath about said valve; and fluid-tightly connecting the edges boundingthe respective slits.

9. A method of protecting a structure in part against ambientinfluences, comprising the steps of providing a structure having a partwhich is to be protected against ambient influences; providing aone-piece sheath of sheet material which is elastically distendable andresistant to said ambient influences, having a hollow interior whoseinner contour is dimensionally smaller than but otherwise corresponds tothe outer contour of said part and which is provided with at least oneopening smaller than said part and through which the latter is to beadmitted into said sheath; elastically distending said opening and saidsheath and placing the sheath over said part; permitting the distendedsheath to relax so that it engages said part in surface-to-surfacecontact therewith; and fluid-tightly bonding an annular marginal portionof said sheath bounding said opening,

to a corresponding surface portion of said structure.

1. An arrangement of the character described, comprising a valve whichis to be protected against ambient influences and which has at least inpart a given outer contour; and a discrete one-piece sheath ofelastically distended sheet material resistant to said ambientinfluences, said sheath tightly encasing said valve insurface-to-surface contact therewith and having an inner contour whichcorresponds to said outer contour and which in distended state equalsthe dimensions thereof while in relaxed state it is of smallerdimensions than those of said outer contour.
 2. An arrangement asdefined in claim 1, wherein said elastically distendable material is asynthetic plastic material.
 3. An arrangement as defined in claim 1,said structure comprising a pair of connected and connected flanges; andwherein said sheath also encases said flanges.
 4. An arrangement asdefined in claim 1, said valve comprising at least two sections, andconnecting means connecting said sections and exposed at the exterior ofthe saMe; and wherein said sheath encases said sections and also saidconnecting means.
 5. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, said sheathhaving a plurality of openings through which portions of said valveextend to the exterior of said sheath; and further comprising meanstightly connecting marginal portions of said sheath bounding therespective openings with juxtaposed surface portions of said valve. 6.An arrangement of the character described, comprising a valve which isto be protected against ambient influences, said valve having a tubularportion provided at opposite axial ends with end flanges, and a housingportion extending from said tubular portion transversely to the axisthereof; a discrete one-piece sheath of elastically distendable materialresistant to said ambient influences and tightly encasing said valve insurface-to-surface contact, said sheath being provided in a lateral sidewith a first slit extending axially along said tubular portion foradmission of the same and with a second slit normal to said first slitand extending along said housing portion for admission of the latter;and means closing said slits when said sheath encases said valve.
 7. Anarrangement as defined in claim 6, further comprising a pair of pipesections each having a connecting flange connected with one of said endflanges; and wherein said sheath comprises a pair of sections each ofwhich encases one of said end flanges and the respective connectingflange which is connected thereto.
 8. A method of protecting a valveagainst ambient influences, comprising the steps of providing a valvehaving a tubular portion having opposite axial ends and a housingportion extending from said tubular portion transversely to the axisthereof; providing a one-piece sheath of elastically distendablematerial resistant to said influences and having a hollow interior whoseinner contour corresponds to the outer contour of said valve; formingsaid sheath in one lateral side thereof with one slit extending in axialdirection of said tubular portion and an other slit extending normal tosaid one slit; widening said slits by distending the material of saidsheath, and thereupon placing said sheath about said valve; andfluid-tightly connecting the edges bounding the respective slits.
 9. Amethod of protecting a structure in part against ambient influences,comprising the steps of providing a structure having a part which is tobe protected against ambient influences; providing a one-piece sheath ofsheet material which is elastically distendable and resistant to saidambient influences, having a hollow interior whose inner contour isdimensionally smaller than but otherwise corresponds to the outercontour of said part and which is provided with at least one openingsmaller than said part and through which the latter is to be admittedinto said sheath; elastically distending said opening and said sheathand placing the sheath over said part; permitting the distended sheathto relax so that it engages said part in surface-to-surface contacttherewith; and fluid-tightly bonding an annular marginal portion of saidsheath bounding said opening, to a corresponding surface portion of saidstructure.